Have you heard about the new development in the UK online casino gambling industry where the UK government was looking to ask offshore online gambling operators who are based outside the UK to obtain a British license and pay taxes to the British government? This was reported in January and it was believed that these new changes may come into effect this month. As soon as this was made public the government started a consultative process with the parties involved and the result of this process is expected to be released later this month or early in April.
“This is Money” is a journal that has all the details regarding this matter. According to the findings published by the journal it is predicted that the British online gambling operators who moved to overseas jurisdictions to avoid a British tax rate of 15% would be the worst hit by the new developments. Some of the British online gambling operators who operate from offshore jurisdictions have been named as SportingBet, PartyGaming, 888, William Hill and Ladbrokes. As for these companies they may be saving a great deal in taxes (for now) but they are also spending fortunes in promoting their products to UK gamblers.
Ian Burke, Chief Executive of Rank Group in his interview to “This is Money” has states that many of the currently regulated online gambling markets in Europe were imposing higher taxes and it is only natural that Britain also follows in their footsteps. He also stated that this would lead to the disappearance of weaker companies from the market. You can also expect some changes in the gambling laws of Northern Ireland as it has become outdated due to the changes that the practices of the industry and the introduction of the latest gambling forms like online gambling. This has led to the Social Development Minister Alex Attwood to propose a review of the Northern Ireland gambling industry.
